Kumeu

Kumeū is a town in the Auckland Region, situated 25 kilometres north-west of the City Centre in New Zealand. State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Line pass through the town. Huapai lies to the west, Riverhead to the north, Whenuapai to the east, and Taupaki to the south.

The wider area has been settled by Tāmaki Māori since the 13th or 14th centuries, and the area is of significant importance to Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Te Kawerau ā Maki. The Kumeū River valley was an important transport node between the Kaipara and Waitematā harbours, due to a portage called Te Tōangaroa, where waka could be hauled overland.

Kumeū village developed in the 1870s after the construction of the Kumeu–Riverhead Section, a railway on Te Tōangaroa that linked Kumeū to Riverhead. Over the latter 19th century, the town transitioned from a centre for the kauri logging and kauri gum trades into an agricultural centre. The Kumeu Stockyards opened in 1915, and from 1921 the town began holding a large-scale agricultural show called the Kumeu Show. By the 1940s, Croatian New Zealanders had developed a winemaking industry in the area. Since the 1970s, Kumeū and Huapai have grown to become a single urban area, often referred to as Kumeū-Huapai.

A commercial centre developed at Kumeū in 1957, after the establishment of Wally Reber's transport business. The winemaking industry underwent a boom in the 1960s and 1970s, including vineyards such as San Marino (now known as Kumeū River Valley), Gilbey Nobilo. Corbans bought vineyeards in the area, and in 1960 Selaks relocated to Kumeū after their Te Atatū vineyard was requisitioned to construct the Northwestern Motorway.

In the 1970s, industrial firms began opening operations in Huapai and Kumeū, including a Carters timber yard, and the New Zealand Particle Board factory, both opening in 1972. During this period, the villages began to merge into a single urban area.

In 2019, the name of the town was officially gazetted as Kumeū, although it is common to see it spelt without the macron.